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| billyweeds |
 Posted: Sun Sep 01, 2013 7:49 pm |
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Joined: 20 May 2004
Posts: 20618
Location: New York City
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carrobin wrote:
I also saw "Spellbound" for the first time--I could have sworn I'd seen it before, but had it mixed up with some other movie. It's terrific.
I am a huge Hitchcock fan but don't like Spellbound at all. It is dated beyond endurance in its antediluvian attitudes toward dreams and psychoanalysis. Bergman and Peck are okay but not much more IMO. The last shot is great, though. |
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| carrobin |
| Posted: Sun Sep 01, 2013 7:58 pm |
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Joined: 21 May 2004
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Location: NYC
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I agree that the view of psychoanalysis was old-fashioned, but enjoyed the Salvador Dali dream sequence and the (very facile) interpretation that she and her mentor made of it. What counts is the mystery/suspense, and that worked beautifully--even though I didn't have a moment's fear that Gregory Peck would kill the dear old doctor. Gregory Peck kills nobody except bad guys (no, I never saw "The Boys From Brazil").
It was interesting that "Murder" and "Spellbound" shared the plot twist of the suspected murderer having amnesia and not remembering the crime, though both were willing to believe they had done it. |
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| Befade |
| Posted: Sun Sep 01, 2013 9:21 pm |
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Joined: 20 May 2004
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Location: AZ
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I love Spellbound and have seen it many times. I'm very critical of psychiatrists but will always watch movies about them. And I love the theme of the caring woman getting the unlucky man out of a jam. See Autumn with Joan Crawford and Cliff Robertson for more of this.
Carol....if I had TCM I'd be watching with you. Murder sounds good. |
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| Syd |
| Posted: Sun Sep 01, 2013 9:22 pm |
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I'm watching Le Deuxième Souffle (proper accents needed so it doesn't appear to be about puff pastry). Paul Meurisse is reminding me of a cross of Walter Matthau and Jack Webb. He's great, too. The other lead is Lino Ventura, who I'd never noticed looks like William Bendix's brother if you see him from the wrong angle. I'm liking this one a lot more than Le Cercle Rouge.
EDIT: Finished it. It gets a bit long toward the end, but it's still a solid film. I prefer it to The Samourai as well, but I like Army of Shadows the best of Melville's films, partly because it has Simone Signoret as well as Ventura and Meurisse. This time, outside of some odd scenes with choreographed dancers, style doesn't overwhelm the movie. The photography as usual is stunning, and this time in black-and-white. |
Last edited by Syd on Sun Sep 01, 2013 11:45 pm; edited 1 time in total
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| billyweeds |
| Posted: Sun Sep 01, 2013 10:08 pm |
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Befade wrote: See Autumn with Joan Crawford and Cliff Robertson for more of this.
Autumn Leaves. |
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| jeremy |
| Posted: Sun Sep 01, 2013 10:15 pm |
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Location: Derby, England and Hamilton, New Zealand (yes they are about 12,000 miles apart)
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| Similarly, I found the overly literal and simplistic psychological resolution at the climax of Dead Again all but ruined the work that had proceeded it. |
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| Joe Vitus |
| Posted: Sun Sep 01, 2013 11:13 pm |
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Location: Houston
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billyweeds wrote: carrobin wrote:
I also saw "Spellbound" for the first time--I could have sworn I'd seen it before, but had it mixed up with some other movie. It's terrific.
I am a huge Hitchcock fan but don't like Spellbound at all. It is dated beyond endurance in its antediluvian attitudes toward dreams and psychoanalysis. Bergman and Peck are okay but not much more IMO. The last shot is great, though.
I have similar problems with Marnie. Particularly when Sean Connery forces Tippi Hedren to confront her lies for the first time and a big oak tree crashes through the window ("here's some blatant Freudian imagery for ya, folks!"). |
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| Marc |
| Posted: Sun Sep 01, 2013 11:25 pm |
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Joined: 19 May 2004
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| Michael Bay's PAIN AND GAIN is, to my utter astonishment, a very fine film indeed. One of my favorites of 2013 so far. |
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| billyweeds |
| Posted: Mon Sep 02, 2013 4:50 am |
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Location: New York City
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Marc wrote: Michael Bay's PAIN AND GAIN is, to my utter astonishment, a very fine film indeed. One of my favorites of 2013 so far.
It always felt fascinating to me, but the combination of what sounds like ultra-violence and the presence as director of Michael Bay has kept me away. Have to rethink. |
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| billyweeds |
| Posted: Mon Sep 02, 2013 5:00 am |
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Joined: 20 May 2004
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There are many other things that annoy me about Spellbound. I know the Dali sequence is interesting, but it's also unbearably artsy-fartsy. The idea of dreaming so literally ("Angel Valley") is simply ridiculous. The theramin music gets on my last nerve. The casting of Michael Chekhov (even though he's adequate in the part) reminds me of Lee Strasberg in The Godfather: Part II--famous acting guru hired for artistic cred as much as appropriateness for the role.
Perhaps most annoying of all is the attitude toward Bergman's character, the oldest cliche in the book: "Take off your glasses. OMG, you're gorgeous!"
The fact that Spellbound is one of Hitchcock's only directorial Oscar nominations makes me laugh. |
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| whiskeypriest |
| Posted: Mon Sep 02, 2013 9:33 am |
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Joined: 20 May 2004
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Location: "It's a Dry Heat."
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billyweeds wrote: Befade wrote: See Autumn with Joan Crawford and Cliff Robertson for more of this.
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| marantzo |
| Posted: Mon Sep 02, 2013 1:20 pm |
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I only saw Spellbound once and didn't care for it. I found it annoying. Now Marnie was a different kettle of fish. I didn't find it annoying, I found it silly.
Carrobin, since you didn't see The Boys from Brazil, let me give you some advice; Don't see it! It not only stinks but Peck and Olivier are unbelievable bad. Who could expect that? |
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| billyweeds |
| Posted: Mon Sep 02, 2013 3:09 pm |
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marantzo wrote: I only saw Spellbound once and didn't care for it. I found it annoying. Now Marnie was a different kettle of fish. I didn't find it annoying, I found it silly.
Carrobin, since you didn't see The Boys from Brazil, let me give you some advice; Don't see it! It not only stinks but Peck and Olivier are unbelievable bad. Who could expect that?
The Boys from Brazil doesn't stink. It's pretty okay. But Peck and Olivier are, as reported, horrendous in their respective roles. |
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| carrobin |
| Posted: Mon Sep 02, 2013 3:19 pm |
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Joined: 21 May 2004
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Location: NYC
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I never had any desire to see "The Boys from Brazil"--who wants to see Atticus in a Nazi suit?
TCM showed "The Lodger" at midnight last night, but I found it hard to stay awake through it. It started pretty well, but moved very slowly and seemed rather silly. I did catch the end, fortunately. |
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| Syd |
| Posted: Mon Sep 02, 2013 5:22 pm |
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carrobin wrote: I never had any desire to see "The Boys from Brazil"--who wants to see Atticus in a Nazi suit?
TCM showed "The Lodger" at midnight last night, but I found it hard to stay awake through it. It started pretty well, but moved very slowly and seemed rather silly. I did catch the end, fortunately.
I've seen it when I was fully awake. That's an apt synopsis. |
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I had a love and my love was true but I lost my love to the yabba dabba doo, --The Flintstone Lament |
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